Deploying an application to the App Store is a crucial and final step in the mobile app development process. This is a decisive stage that helps your app reach millions of people worldwide. To successfully carry out this deployment process, it’s essential to follow a series of important steps and careful considerations. Below, we will explore the factors to consider and how to efficiently deploy an app on the App Store.
Here are the steps, and I will guide you through them:
Step 1: This is our application, and we will push it to the App Store and TestFlight.
Step 2: Open Xcode and click on “Open a project or file.”
Step 3: Open the file in your Flutter project, open the ios folder, select Runner.xcworkspace, and then click open.
Step 4, Enter all the information in the fields: Minimum Deployment, Identity, Deployment Info, etc.
Minimum Deployment: Choose the version as 11.0, as your app will only support iOS 11 and above.
Identity: Fill in App Category, Display Name, Bundle Identifier (create it in Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles).
Version: The app version.
Build: Flutter build version.
Step 5: To create a Bundle Identifier, follow these steps: go to Signing Capabilities, click on Team to choose your Apple Developer account or log in if not done already.
Step 8, to input the bundle identifier, go to your Apple Developer account.
Step 9: Click on “Apps” to go to the App Connect page.
Step 11: Click on “Apps” and select “New App.” In the Bundle Id field, click on Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles to add a new Bundle Id.
Step 12: Enter the Description and Bundle Id in the Bundle Id field. The Bundle Id is the reverse domain, followed by your app’s name (com.domain.appname).
Step 13: Choose Push Notifications if your app uses push notifications and click continue.
Step 14: Click Register.
Step 14-1: You have now successfully created a Bundle Id.
Step 15: Go back to the App Connect tab and reload the page. Click on “New App,” fill in the details, and you will see the Bundle Id selection. Click create to create a new app.
Step 16: Your app has been created. Click on TestFlight, and you will see nothing here, so you need to upload it from Xcode.
Step 17: From Step 15 above, copy the bundle id and go back to Xcode to paste it into the bundle identifier.
Step 18: Go back to the General tab in Xcode and enter the version and build version.
Step 19: To find this, go back to Android Studio, in your project, select ios > Flutter > Generated.xcconfig, and you will find the Flutter build name and Flutter build number. Note that FLUTTER_BUILD_NAME should be in the format x.x.x, and FLUTTER_BUILD_NUMBER should be x or higher, from 1 to 500 or more.
Step 20: Go back to Xcode and enter the version and build version.
Step 21: If you want push notifications, access to photos, camera, add the following information in the Info.list file:
– Push Notifications: Add aps-environment in Information Property List with the desired push notification message.
– Access to Media Library: Add Privacy-Media Library Usage Description in Information Property List with the desired message.
– Camera Access: Add Privacy-Camera Usage Description in Information Property List with the desired message.
Step 22: When ready, click on the device and select “Any iOS device (amd64)” in the Build section, and you will have the Archive option under Product.
Step 23: Click Product > Archive.
Step 24: Wait for the process to complete, and you will get results as shown below. Click Distribute App.
Step 25: Choose App Store Connect to distribute your app to TestFlight and App Store and click Next.
Step 26: Check Upload to upload your app to App Store Connect and click Next to proceed.
Step 27: Uncheck Manage version and build version; otherwise, you won’t be able to change the version freely, and you may lose the App Store connect option. Consider this carefully. Then click Next.
After that, click next.
Step 28: Choose Automatically Manage Signing to let Xcode automatically download profiles, app ID, and certificates. Then click Next and wait a few minutes.
Step 29: Click on the Upload button to upload your app to Testflight and App Store. Each time you upload, the app will go through Testflight first for testing before release.
Step 30: From Step 29, wait a few minutes for the upload to complete. When done, you will receive a notification like this. It indicates that your app “name app” has been successfully uploaded. Click Done to close.
Step 31: Return to your Apple Developer account’s browser page. You will see the Build in processing status; just wait a few minutes for processing to complete. You will receive a notification via email after 5 minutes; then, reload the page.
Step 32: Upon receiving the email notification, reload the page and click on “Manage” in the Status section.
Step 33: Check Yes for both of these steps and click “Start Internal Testing.”
Step 34: Go to the App Store.
Add interesting and high-quality images to attract users’ attention. Click the “Add Images” button to upload interesting and representative images for your app.
Ensure you fill in all the information about your app, including description, features, and any important information that users need to know and that Apple requires.
Reviews and approval may take 2-3 days, but once successful, your app will appear on the App Store, ready for users to experience and enjoy.
In summary, the article provides a detailed guide on how to push Swift and Flutter applications to TestFlight and the App Store.